The Universal Law of the Funnel

A secret Universal Law as certain as gravity

If you ask a person what will happen when you pour water into the top of a funnel, they’ll quickly tell you that water will come out of the bottom of the funnel. If you ask them why, they may hesitate but will eventually see or agree that it is because of the law of gravity.

Do we ever doubt gravity? Do we ever wonder if it’s going to work tomorrow? Did you lose any sleep last night worrying about whether our car would be floating around the ceiling of the garage in the morning? Probably not. Gravity, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton, is such a natural part of our world that we rarely even think about it. We simply accept it and expect it.

I’d now like to present to you another universal law. I urge you to likewise accept it and expect it, but I understand the reluctance that you may have. When you take an honest and thoughtful look around you, you will realize that you have observed this law throughout your life! Once you are more consciously aware of this law you can take fuller advantage of it.

Here’s the law:

The thoughts we put into our mind or allow into our mind will eventually and inevitably determine who we become.

Here’s an example of the law in action:

When a person thinks about being abused as a child, the thoughts cause him to involuntarily feel a certain way. He does not choose to feel these feelings. They simply come naturally (like rain naturally falls downward.) As he feels these negative feelings, they will influence the way he acts and the things he will do. If he continues in this negative thought process he will eventually become a different person than he was supposed to be. His future and destiny were in fact changed by his thinking!

Now that’s a rather extreme example, but in simple and subtle ways our thoughts influence the outcomes we experience every day. Worrying (think) that a person is angry at you when you read their email changes how you perceive (feel) it and how you reply to it (act, do). At least for the moment, your relationship or your identity (I) as it involves that person is altered because of the thoughts that were in your mind. Might the day have gone differently if you had expected that this person was at peace with you?

The picture of a funnel will remind us of this important truth. The shape of the funnel, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, will make it easy to remember the order of the words we’ve talked about. Think is at the top and it has the most letters. Next comes feel, then act, then do, and finally I, reminding us of our identity or the person we will be. Look at the funnel again. The things I THINK about will surely influence the way that I FEEL and in turn the way I ACT, the things I DO, and in the end, the very person I am. You know this law is true. You've seen it demonstrated in your own life.

When we recall past attempts to quit smoking or stories that others have told us about how hard it was, we need to be sure that we don’t allow ourselves to think that it’s impossible. If we think it is impossible to quit, then it will be so! Furthermore we will become a person who cannot quit.

Remember that the funnel doesn’t care what you put into it. Positive or negative, truth or lie, for better or for worst you will become what you think about. Earl Nightingale, in his book, The Strangest Secret, illustrated this idea by comparing the human mind to a farmer’s field. The soil will return whatever is planted in it. If you plant good seeds, the soil returns an abundance of good crops. If you plant weed seeds, the land will return an abundance of weeds. "As you sow, so shall you reap." Your mind is very similar and much more powerful.

Look at the funnel again. The things I THINK about will surely influence the way that I FEEL and in turn the way I ACT, the things I DO, and in the end, the very person I am. You know this law is true. Let's agree to start being very careful about what we put in our funnel.